Happy Friday and Jummah Mubarkah!
For this Friday, I am sharing the lovely Sultan Qaboos's Grand Mosque with you all. It's located in the heart of Muscat and it's one of the places that I recommend visiting if you are in Muscat. The mosque could hold 20,000 worshipers in its huge 416, 000 SqM. The mosque also has a huge library that has over 20,000 books on Islam and other subjects (Omantourism.gov.om, 2014). I only found out about it after my visit, so I haven't been to it. If you are a muslim, I would advice you to go there for a prayer and go inside. If you are not a muslim, I am not sure if you are allowed to go into the prayer spaces, but you can wonder outside and enjoy the architectural details everyday except for Fridays as stated on the Oman Tourism website.
In 1992, there was a design competition to design this mosque and the wining design was executed in six years (Archnet.org, 2014) by the renowned Iraqi architect Mohammed Saleh Makiya and Quad Design. The mosque has five minarets each is 45m in hight with the fifth one that's double the hight of 91.5m. Those five minarets symbolise the five pillars of Islam (Archnet.org, 2014) and highlighting the most important one which is the oneness of God.
The interiors are both simple and detailed tastefully. There are some pattern work and calligraphy but not as much as some historic mosques. Scroll down and enjoy the photos!
A walk in the whole place with pictures will take under half an hour, but it's still worth a visit.
Ps. The Arabic calligraphy that you see on top of the doors is called Thuluth script (Omantourism.gov.om, 2014).
For more things to do in muscat please check Ten Things To Do In Muscat.
References:
- Archnet.org, (2014). Collections | Architect's Archives | Mohamed Makiya | Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque | Archnet. [online] Available at: http://archnet.org/collections/123/sites/4818 [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].
- Omantourism.gov.om, (2014). Travel to Oman, Visit Muscat through Oman Travel Guide for Sultanate of Oman Adventure - Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman. [online] Available at: http://www.omantourism.gov.om [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].